Cheryl Biondo (nee Bellette), of Surfside, made the front page of the Sunday Australian in 1975, after she and her family were trapped by floodwaters for six days.
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But that wasn’t the first time her family history was touched by a Clyde River flood.
“In 1959, my parents lived where the marina is now,” Mrs Biondo said.
“Mum was in labour with me, and Dad was evacuating, because the ocean was coming in.”
Mrs Biondo said her father was cool, calm and collected during their 1975 ordeal, when a two-day camping trip turned into nearly a week sleeping in their car to escape floodwaters.
“We had 14 inches in 48 hours,” she said. “Mum was freaking out. I kept saying to my dad that I would swim across (the river), because I was scared of the snakes, but he wouldn’t let me.”
Her father and uncle escaped and found help – but the memory of the trip will never be washed away.
